Masters and their Masterpieces: Part II Quiz

Answer: Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian whose expertise covered many different subjects (painting, inventing, sculpture, music, mathematics, engineering botany, writing and many other subjects). He is primarily known as a painter and his most famous work is his painting "Mona Lisa" believed to be painted between 1503-1506.

The subject is Lisa Gherardini (1419-1542) who was from a wealthy family from Florence, Italy. The painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 but returned a couple of years later.

The thief, an Italian employee of the Louvre thought the painting should be displayed in an Italian museum.

Answer: Sydney Opera House

Jørn Utzon (1918-2008) was a Danish architect and his most famous accomplishment was the designing of the Sydney Opera House. The opera house became a World Heritage Site in 2007. Of the 233 design entries received in 1955, his design was accepted as the winner in 1957.

The prize was £5,000. In 2003 Utzon received the Pritzker Architecture Prize, architecture's highest honour. The Pritzker citation read that this structure was a masterpiece.

Answer: David

Michelangelo (1475-1564) was an Italian sculpture, painter, architect and poet. His most notable paintings are on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Last Judgement on the altar wall in Vatican City. The marble statue of "David" was unveiled in 1504.

This master piece of Renaissance sculpture stands 5.17m (17ft) and is a male nude. The statue represents the biblical hero, David. It is on display at the Accedemia Gallery, Florence.

Answer: The Night Watch

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch painter whose most famous work is "The Night Watch". Painted in 1642 it is a group portrait of a militia company. With effective use of sunlight and shade the eye is lead to the three main persons in the painting.

The painting was originally known as "Militia Company of District II under the command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq". However, it is commonly known nowadays as "The Night Watch".

Answer: Guernica

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, stage designer, poet and playwright. He co-founded the Cubist movement and is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His painting "Guernica" (1937) portrays the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War.

The painting was displayed in Paris and brought world wide attention to the Spanish Civil War.

Answer: The Thinker

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was a French sculptor and is considered one of the founders of modern sculpture. Rodin has many well-known sculptures however, it is "The Thinker" that is best known. It is a bronze piece that stands 27.5" in height and was created between 1879-1889.

It was originally entitled "The Poet", after Dante, the Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. The work is of a nude male sitting on a rock, deep in thought with his chin resting on one hand. The figure is often used as an image to represent philosophy.

Answer: The Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. "The Starry Night" (1889) is regarded as one of his most famous works and is one of the most recognised paintings in Western culture. He voluntarily admitted himself to an asylum due to a self-malfunction of his left ear.

Although the view painted is from his bedroom window he actually painted the picture in his ground-floor studio at the asylum. He depicted the view from his bedroom at various times of the day in forms of sketches as he was not allowed to paint in his bedroom.

He transferred these sketches onto canvas in the ground floor studio.

Answer: Sagrada Familia

Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) was a Catalan architect and he designed the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. The architecture and engineering design combine Gothic and art Nouveau forms. The Sagrada Familia is a Roman Catholic church and construction was commenced in 1882.

It is expected that it will be completed by 2028 after a total of 146 years in the making. Together with six other Gaudi designed buildings in Barcelona it became a World Heritage Site.

Answer: Bust of Nefertiti

Thutmose is believed to be the sculptor of the Bust of Nefertiti as it was found in his workshop in Amarna, Egypt. The work was crafted in 1345 BC. and was only discovered in 1912. Thutmose is thought to have been the official court sculptor of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti (1370-1330 BC)is an icon of feminine beauty and one of the most famous women of ancient Egypt.

She was an Egyptian queen and the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. The bust is on display at Berlin's Neues Museum.

Answer: The Statue of Liberty

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) was a French sculpture and was the designer of Liberty Enlightening the World or more commonly known as the Statue of Liberty in New York City. Although Bartholdi designed the statue it was built by Gustave Eiffel, the same person who built the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The statue was a gift from France to the Americans to honour the centennial of American independence. The statue commenced in the early 1870s and was finally dedicated in 1886.